The victim, Glenn M. Draper, was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the state medical examiner’s office Cape Cod facility in Sandwich, police said.

If heroin is determined to have been the cause of death, Draper will have been the sixth person this year to have died from a heroin overdose, according to officials.

Terrel Harris, spokesman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, said it is impossible to predict how long it will take before a cause of death can be determined.

“Unless something is very obvious there is no way to say. There is a lot of science involved,” Harris said.

He added that medical examiners try to conduct an autopsy within 24 hours of the arrival of each dead body.

Taunton first responders, including police, firefighters and ambulance EMTs, have been struggling to keep up with a steady stream of heroin-related overdoses. There have been 68 reported overdoses in the Silver City since Jan. 1, according to police.

Authorities say a potent strain of heroin, sometimes cut with a strong painkiller called Fentanyl, may be fueling the uptick in ODs and deaths.

Taunton has also become known as a place where heroin can be bought cheap. Police have said some dealers are charging as little as $7 or less for a single, small bag.